Chapter 15: Loss, Grief, and End-of-Life Care

Chapter 15: Loss, Grief, and End-of-Life Care

Complete Chapter Questions With Answers

Sample Questions Are Posted Below

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. A 33-year-old patient has been told that her disease is terminal. The patient is crying and states, “I will just be a dependent drain on my family. I hate being a burden to them.” The nurse can best respond:

ANS:  B

A person’s reaction to a loss is influenced by the importance of what that person perceives the loss entails. To help the patient validate what the loss means is therapeutic.

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Application           REF:   p. 200             OBJ:   Clinical Practice #2

TOP:   Value and Loss                               KEY:  Nursing Process Step: Implementation

MSC:  NCLEX: Psychosocial Integrity: Coping and Adaptation

2. A patient tells the nurse during an admission interview that his wife “went on to her reward.” The nurse assesses that this statement is an indication that the patient:

ANS:  C

In many societies there is avoidance of using words such as “died” or “death,” and euphemisms are commonly used.

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Analysis                REF:   p. 199             OBJ:   Theory #1

TOP:   Societal Views of Death                  KEY:  Nursing Process Step: Assessment

MSC:  NCLEX: Psychosocial Integrity: Coping and Adaptation

3. A neighbor who was widowed 2 months ago gives the nurse his wife Helen’s gardening books “because the two of you loved flowers.” He tries to hold back tears, but begins to cry. To decrease his discomfort, the nurse should say:

ANS:  A

Sharing the feeling of loss is appropriate and supportive and recognizes the loss of the grieving husband.

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Application           REF:   p. 200             OBJ:   Clinical Practice #2

TOP:   Therapeutic Communication            KEY:  Nursing Process Step: Implementation

MSC:  NCLEX: Psychosocial Integrity: Coping and Adaptation

4. A terminally ill patient and his family have requested hospice care. The nurse clarifies hospice care philosophy as:

ANS:  B

The primary goal of hospice and palliative care is to improve quality of life, alleviate suffering, and improve end-of-life experience for the patients and their loved ones.

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Comprehension     REF:   p. 201             OBJ:   Theory #2

TOP:   Hospice          KEY:  Nursing Process Step: Implementation

MSC:  NCLEX: Physiological Integrity: Basic Care and Comfort

5. A terminally ill patient is angry and belligerent. He yells at the nurses and his family for not coming quickly enough when he calls, and he states that he isn’t receiving the care he needs. The nurse’s most informative response would be:

ANS:  D

Anger is one of the stages terminally ill patients and their caregivers may experience. It may be prolonged, or it may be a passing stage or one that is returned to in the course of the final illness. Reacting with anger or just passively ignoring it does not assist the patient in dealing with his feelings.

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Analysis                REF:   p. 201|Table 15-1

OBJ:   Theory #1      TOP:   Anger Phase   KEY:  Nursing Process Step: Implementation

MSC:  NCLEX: Psychosocial Integrity: Coping and Adaptation